Tuesday, June 30, 2009

Fixing Things Myself

It feels really good when I am able to fix something myself. My garage roof, for example, has been missing a screw for months. Every time the wind blew it would vibrate and make a very loud noise. Of course I didn't notice it unless I was in the garage at the time. After the storm came through yesterday and seeing the metal panel blow wildly in the wind I was determined to fix it.

I came home from work and after changing out of my office clothes, and filling up my front tire with air because it seems to have a slow leak, I got out the ladder and hauled it down to the garage to inspect the damage. I saw one nail lying in the gutter and one screw was missing. I found a similar screw and washer in my tool box and managed to secure my metal panel. Then, since I was up there, I tightened all of the loose screws, hammered the loose nails and reattached the gutter in 2 places. I had to stop when the thunder started but I finished securing all of the obvious loose spots. I feel much better about my garage surviving another monsoon season. Ok, so the inside has been ravaged by termites but the roof won't blow off, at least not this year.

KoBold, usually it is a quick fix as long as I don't look too closely. From the ladder perspective I saw all sorts of other things that needed attention like nail holes to fill, rusty screws, loose things higher up. I could have turned it in to a big job but the lightning discouraged me. At least it's fixed for a little while.